Season Over: Cubs' postseason run ends in Milwaukee |
Dustin Riese
· · 9 hours ago
MILWAUKEE - Sometimes you have to tip your hat to your opponents, and the Chicago Cubs need to tip their hat to the Milwaukee Brewers. This is a team that has been overlooked and underappreciated all season, yet they have gone on to win the NL Central by finishing with an MLB-best 97 wins.
As good a regular season as that was, with the Brewers winning a franchise record for games, Milwaukee had bigger goals in mind as they entered Saturday's Wild Card Game, five looking to win their first playoff series since 2018. In what was a winner-take-all matchup at American Family Field, it was an all-hands-on-deck scenario with both teams electing to go with a bullpen game to close things out. A bit unorthodox, but when you look at how dominant both pens have been in the playoffs, you can see why the managers chose to go that route. As expected, neither team was able to generate much offense as the pitching stole the show once again. However, it was the Brewers using the long ball to get the job done as they connected for a trio of solo homers to end the Cubs' season with a 3-1 victory. The big story of the entire series was both teams' ability to score runs in the first inning, as 21 runs were scored in the first inning. Although not at the same level as it has been in the past, it was the Brewers adding on to the first inning magic with Williams Contreras taking Drew Pomeranz deep in the first to put Milwaukee on top 1-0. That homer came with two outs, which was a theme as the game went on, as it was time for The Miz, Jacob Misiorowski, to take over in the second. Things didn't get off to a great start for the young fireballer as Seiya Suzuki caught up to a triple-digit heater and took it over the right field fence to make this a 1-1 game. That was about it when it came to the excitement for the Cubs, as Chicago had a tough time generating much of anything on the offensive end. With Misiorowski doing his thing on the mound with four scoreless innings, it was up to Colin Rea to match him, and despite not having his best stuff early on, he did manage to keep the Brewers off the board across his first 2 2/3 innings. That was until Andrew Vaughn stepped up in the fourth to deliver not only the Brewers' second solo shot of the game, but the second homer with two outs to put Milwaukee on top for good, 2-1. Things only got worse from there for Rea as Milwaukee continued their two-out magic with a pair of singles from Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin before a walk to Blake Perkins loaded the bases and had the Brewers on the verge of breaking things open. Daniel Palencia took over from there to get out of the inning as the Cubs kept things close, 2-1. Despite picking up three hits in the first few innings, the Cubs' bats went quiet after that, but with Aaron Ashby taking over for Misiorowski in the sixth, it was the Cubs showing signs of life as they looked to have things going. As has been the case most of the postseason, Michael Busch got things started for the Cubs as he picked up a leadoff single off Ashby to put the tying run on base, only to have a hit by pitch to Nico Hoerner put a pair of runners on with no outs. That was as close as the Cubs would get the rest of the way, with Ashby getting Kyle Tucker to strike out before Chad Patrick came in to finish the Cubs off in the sixth. Suzuki came close to tying things up in that inning with a well-struck ball to left, but it was Jackson Chourio catching up to the liner to prevent any damage from happening. As good as the Cubs' pen was throughout this series, you started to see some cracks in their armor in the sixth and seventh innings as Caleb Thielbar and Andrew Kittredge weren't at their best. For the most part, they were able to escape trouble, but it was Kittredge getting bailed out by Pete Crow-Armstrong to begin the seventh as he robbed Joey Ortiz of a would-be extra base hit. Milwaukee wound up getting the last laugh in that inning as Brice Turang continued the trend of two-out homers, taking Kittredge deep to push the Brewers' lead to 3-1. That homer was the first run the Brewers managed to score after the fifth in the entire series and proved to be the knockout punch as Abner Uribe came in to record the final six outs to send the Brewers to the NLCS for the first time since 2018. Although the loss stings, especially against your division rival, the Cubs have a lot to be proud of this season as they look to build on this in the offseason. “I’m disappointed, I’m sad. I think this team did a lot to honor the Chicago Cub uniform.” The Cubs had runners on 1st & 2nd with no outs in the 6th inning and failed to score.@cliff_floyd30 analyzes the Cubs’ missed opportunity. pic.twitter.com/MEEEt3GEuh
Craig Counsell following tonight’s season-ending loss. pic.twitter.com/0erFpDSKmJ
